


Heart of a Thief

by pichumaster101



Series: Enduring Faith [2]
Category: Persona 4, Persona 5
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Persona 5 Protagonist is from Inaba, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:15:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26995030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pichumaster101/pseuds/pichumaster101
Summary: Ren Amamiya survived many ordeals as the leader of the Phantom Thieves. But leaving it all behind may prove to be his greatest one yet.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi, Kurusu Akira/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi, Persona 5 Protagonist/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi
Series: Enduring Faith [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934068
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	1. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren returns home from Tokyo.

The boy felt his heart sink as he boarded the train. He’d kept up his normal air of confidence while he said goodbye to his friends and girlfriend, but now that he was alone on the train, the reality of his situation came crashing down on him. He was really leaving Tokyo and with it, everyone who cared about him.

“Ren, you okay? You’re staring off into space.”

Well, almost everyone. There was the one ‘person’ who was able to come with him. Morgana, his partner in crime during their Phantom Thief days.

“Yeah, I’ll be alright. The fact that we’re leaving is finally starting to sink in. I just want to think for a while. By the way, I did pay the pet fee, so you don’t have to stay in the bag.” Ren said as he settled into a seat and placed the bag containing his feline companion next to him.

He looked out the window as the train began to move and for a split second, he thought he saw a boy in a familiar green blazer and black dress pants walking across the platform.

‘ _What the hell? Is that Akechi?_ ’

Ren took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. As quickly as he had seemingly appeared, he was gone.

‘ _I must have been seeing things. After all, Akechi’s dead._ ’

Ren went to put his glasses back on, pausing just before resting them on his nose.

‘ _I guess I don’t really need to keep wearing these anymore… not like they really ever helped me seem conspicuous anyway… they were just another mask I wore._ ’

Ren shrugged and slid the glasses into his bag. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a text to Sumire. After a quick conversation, Ren pocketed the phone again.

“What’re you doing?”

“I just texted Sumi and now I am seriously considering getting off this train at the next stop and turning around. I’m dreading going back that much.”

“Is it really that bad in Inaba?”

Ren sighed. “The town itself isn’t bad. It’s nothing special, just your typical small town. But it’s not Inaba I’m worried about, I’m worried about the people there.”

“Your sentence got overturned, though. People know you’re innocent, so I think they’ll go easy on you.”

“The hope of humanity’s ever the optimist, huh? Wish I could say the same about myself. He said with a chuckle.

“The rumor mill there can’t be any worse than at Shujin, can it? People will probably move on from talking about you in a week.”

“Inaba’s isn’t like Tokyo, Mona. Not a lot happens there so people will latch onto whatever interesting gossip they can. I’m sure I can handle it, but it’s gonna be annoying dealing with it all over again. Especially now that the others aren’t gonna be around. It was nice having some solidarity with them.”

“I get that. But don’t forget that you aren’t alone in this. Even if they aren’t here, they’ll still be there for you.”

Ren smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Mona.”

“Moving on from the heavy stuff, what type of stuff is there to do in Inaba? I know you said it’s just a normal small town, but I don’t really know what that’s like since I’ve only ever been in Tokyo…”

“Like I said earlier, there isn’t really much there.”

“Come on, Ren. Tell me about some of the places to spend time.”

“I mean… there’s a Junes. That’s… pretty much the main place people hang out besides at each other’s houses.” Ren said slowly.

“Seriously, Ren? That’s the only thing you can think of?

Ren shrugged. “Again, not much to do. Okina City isn’t too far, but it’s not exactly close, either. You have to either take the train or the bus. A lot of people will get a motorcycle license to drive scooters there, but I don’t know if it’ll be worth the effort…”

The boy and cat continued to chat idly as the ride continued. Ren’s talking to the cat on the seat next to him earned more than a few stares from nearby passengers, but he didn’t really care. After a few hours and a couple transfers, the automated voice spoke the last words Ren wanted to hear:

**Next stop, Yasoinaba Station.**

“That’s us, Mona.”

“Does that mean I have to get back in the bag?”

“Is it really that bad? You’ve gotta be used to it after a year of me carrying you around in there.”

“I guess I’ve gotten used to it, but someone as amazing as me deserves better than to be cramped up in a bag all the time.”

“Yeah, yeah. Stop complaining and get in.” Ren said, rolling his eyes.

As the train slowed to a stop, Ren picked up Morgana and disembarked from the train.

“Is your family waiting for you outside the station?” Morgana asked as they walked toward the exit.

“I doubt it. Schools are on spring break, but they still need to work. You’ll meet them later. If it were a weekend, they might have come to pick us up, but we’re gonna have to walk home.”

“What are they like? Your parents, I mean. You still haven’t told me anything about them.”

“I’m not really sure how to answer that… for most of my life they were fairly normal as far as parents go. I didn’t really have any problems with them beyond the typical teenager type stuff, like them not letting me stay out late at night, but that’s about it. Everything changed between us after my arrest though. They wouldn’t look me in the eyes, and it felt like they didn’t even hesitate to send me to Tokyo. Then there’s the fact that I barely heard from them the entire year I was gone. So, I don’t really know how to feel.”

“Well, now that you’ve been proven innocent, you have an opportunity to patch things up with them. You’re gonna be with them for at least a year, so you might as well try.”

“Probably not the worst idea. But I’m still not sure if I really want to see them at all…” Ren replied quietly.

Ren heard his phone buzz in his pocket and saw a text from Sumire, he immediately typed out a response while carefully navigating his way home.

 _Sumire:_ Do you have time to talk, Senpai?

 _Sumire:_ It’s fine if you can’t. I know you’re probably busy unpacking.

 _Ren:_ Knowing how long we’ll probably end up talking, now’s not the best time.

 _Ren:_ But we can talk all you want later.

 _Ren:_ Is something wrong?

 _Sumire:_ I haven’t had the best day since you left, and I wanted to talk with you about it…

 _Ren:_ Sorry to hear that. I’d be happy to listen to you.

 _Sumire:_ Thank you. I’ll talk to you later, Senpai.

 _Ren:_ Talk to you then. I love you, Sumire.

 _Sumire:_ I love you, too.

Ren stared at his phone with a concerned look.

“What was that about?” Morgana asked.

“It was Sumi. She said she had a bad day and wanted to talk about it. I’m gonna call her later tonight.”

“Hopefully, she’s okay.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine once she’s able to talk about it. Sumire’s a strong girl.” Ren said, confidently.

The duo remained silent for the rest of the walk. It took longer, but Ren deliberately avoided walking down the street where he had his fateful encounter with Shido one year ago. A lot had happened over the past year, including Shido’s arrest, but he didn’t feel quite ready to go back there yet. It took a while, but soon Ren found himself standing outside of his parent’s house.

“Here we are. Home sweet home.” Ren said, dryly.

“This is the place, huh?” Morgana poked his head out of the bag. “You ready, Joker?”

“Nope. But whether I’m ready or not, it’s showtime.” Ren laughed lightly to himself before entering the house and shutting the door behind him.


	2. Stumble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sumire gets a pep talk from a friend.

The girl once again found herself face down on the mats. It was a position she had found herself in quite often when she was younger, but had been seeing less and less over the years. Falling like this after all the progress she had made recently was… discouraging, to say the least.

“Sumire, what’s gotten into you today? That’s the third time in a row you’ve messed up your routine, and you fell down for the first time in long time. You seem distracted.”

As usual, Coach Hiraguchi could read her like an open book.

“Yeah… I guess I am a bit distracted…” Sumire Yoshizawa quietly spoke as she rose to her feet.

“You’re thinking about your boyfriend, aren’t you?”

‘ _How does she always know exactly what I’m thinking…?_ ’

“Yeah… he had to leave today, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to see him again… I know that it’s only been a couple hours, but I already miss him so much…” Sumire muttered.

“Well, snap out of it. You need to focus if you want to succeed. I’m sure that if he were here, he’d say the same thing. I only talked with him a couple times, but even with that little bit, I could tell how much he cared about you. He wants you to succeed and the last thing he would want is for you to fail because of him.”

“I know but…” Sumire started.

“Look Sumire, if you can’t get your head in the game, then maybe you should stop for now. Take the rest of the day to sort yourself out and come back next practice ready to work hard.”

“But I can’t waste any time! I need to work harder now!” Sumire protested.

“If you keep pushing yourself in this state, you’re just going to keep screwing up, causing you to psych yourself out more and that won’t help. Go home and do whatever you need to do to get over this.”

“Yes ma’am…” Sumire said with a sigh before bowing and gathering her things.

‘ _I can’t even remember the last time I did that badly at practice… it must have been before I met Senpai… before Kasumi…_ ’ Sumire shook her head. ‘ _No, stop it Sumire. You’re getting into your own head again and that’s your whole problem. Maybe I should try talking to Senpai… he always knows how to cheer me up when I get like this…_ ’

Despite her best efforts to remain calm, tears pricked at her eyes as she boarded the train heading home. After managing to find a seat, Sumire typed out a message to Ren. As usual, he responded to her almost immediately and after a short conversation Sumire smiled lightly.

‘ _At least I have something to look forward to now._ ’ Sumire sighed as she dropped her phone into her bag. She silently rode the train home, excited for her conversation with Ren.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
After arriving home, Sumire took a quick shower and was now laying on her bed, idly scrolling through her phone as she waited for Ren to be ready to talk. A while later, her phone buzzed with a text. Sumire excitedly opened her messaging app to reveal a text from… Futaba.

 _Futaba:_ Yo.

 _Futaba:_ You talked to Ren yet? How’s he doing?

 _Futaba:_ Actually, don’t answer that. I know you haven’t.

 _Futaba:_ I don’t know why I asked.

 _Sumire:_ Um, how do you know that?

 _Futaba:_ Did Ren not tell you? I hacked the entire group’s phones.

 _Futaba:_ Sometimes I’ll look through everyone’s messages when I get bored.

 _Futaba:_ Don’t worry, I’ll only use what I find to make fun of you.

 _Sumire:_ Oh… could you not look through my messages please, Futaba-senpai?

 _Futaba:_ Nope! That’s the Futaba tax. And I’ve told you to stop calling me senpai!

 _Sumire:_ No way. That’s the Sumire tax.

 _Futaba:_ Ugh, I hate you right now. You win this round ‘Ms. Amamiya.’

Sumire’s face instantly lit up.

 _Sumire:_ You know about that too!?

However, she received no response.

Meanwhile, in a darkened room in a house in Yongen, Futaba Sakura leaned back in her chair, a smirk on her face.

“It’s just too easy.” Futaba laughed as she pictured the look on her friend’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that I forgot to check that this story had multiple chapters because I'm an idiot. So yeah that's my bad.

**Author's Note:**

> It's finally here! Took me longer than I intended to get this up because I wanted to post the first two chapters together, but life kept getting in the way of me finishing chapter 2 so I decided to put up chapter 1 by itself. This story will be heavily Persona 4 inspired, but you don't need to know the story of that game to understand this story. Now, with all that being said, I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of my new fic!


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